The present invention is a concentrating solar colector. U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,444 is a related device by Holland and differs from the present invention, in part, in orientation of the troughs. The difference in orientation is significant in that tests have shown that the present invention, in one embodiment, is capable of attaining a higher temperature in the reservoir than its comparable device under the above U.S. patent, a result which does not appear obvious without testing or analytical studies. Further, the same embodiment uses a more simple tubing arrangement.
The primary object of the present invention is to improve performance compared to that of the above-mentioned patented device. Two further objectives are to simplify the equipment to improve on amenability to production as a preassembled unit to be positioned on a suitable foundation and to further embrace the possible application to photovoltaic and to thermal and to combined thermal and photovoltaic uses.